An Evening of Proof – There is a place where Music Education with Inspiration Works!

As many of you know from my past articles over the last 4 years, I have been constantly talking about WHY I created David’s Music House. I have been passionately trying everything I can to promote my idea that students need more than instruction and even more than hoping that they find that special teacher who goes beyond what other do to instill the LOVE of music into a student. There is more that we can all do.

I was able to see this come together one amazing evening on Saturday, August 16, 2014 during the Hillary Reynolds Band Concert. I have been planning this evening in my mind for a long time! In actuality, the specific planning occurred for at least 3 or 4 months when the band contacted me to say they would love to perform sometime in August during their fall tour. HRB has been one of the BEST and most favorite group of musicians I have had perform at DMH. They are not only amazing musicians and songwriters but are wonderfully caring people who have become great friends. They are also one of our greatest supporters of performing to Inspire students. My mind started to work….I needed to make this event fulfill my dream of getting our students and their families to come to the concert. I have had many concerts over the last 3 + years and have found it challenging to get my message of how important and priceless it is to have learning, developing students see and meet actual professional touring musicians. It is my opinion that this is KEY to a student wanting to make playing music a part of their lives. Even attending area concert halls and arenas, although wonderful to see, does not offer the intimacy of our “Big Living Room” Coffee House setting. With only seating for 50, it provides the perfect Family Friendly setting for students of all ages to watch up close these amazingly talented professional musicians.

Over the last 3 months, previous to this concert, I have been strongly promoting the event through social media and area print. I have been relentless in reminding my teachers how important it is to not merely mention this event to their students but to get them involved in how amazing the performance will be and how much they would love becoming fans of The Hillary Reynolds Band. I have also decreased the amount of concerts I have in order to make the ones I do book, more SPECIAL and anticipated.

I learned that this extra effort and more concentrated focus on bringing the DMH Mission and the concert importance together ACTUALLY WORKS!!! I can not emphasize how much this event is now one of the most amazing moments of realizing my dream this far! On this particular evening, I not only got to see and hear a band that is my ideal type of band and music I personally would love to be in, but I also saw multiple DMH students with that “look of complete awe” on their faces as they were mesmerized by the performance.

Hillary Reynolds Band Concert

We also included a “Student Showcase” of 3 of our amazing young vocalist students. Olivia, Alexis and Madhumita performed during an intermission of the concert. Their performance and the experience they gained doing this was beyond valuable. It was something they will likely never forget. The students and their families became strong fans of HRB and many students bought as much merchandise as they could talk their parents into buying for them. They talked with Hillary Reynolds, who is now their true American Idol.

Another very important thing students learn from seeing a concert like this is how great musicians perform with each other, as a band. They see how microphones are used, how to engage an audience, how much practice it takes to play perfectly and one of my important principles of “how to listen to what every other member of the band is playing”. HRB was a perfect example of how to do this. Each band member is not trying to be the star of the show. So many music teachers in private lessons forget to stress the importance of LISTENING. There are so many “want-to-be-musicians” out there picking up guitars and playing cover songs in their bedrooms to their smartphone cameras who are playing by themselves and only thinking of themselves performing. Sooner or later they will begin playing in a band and if they have never been taught the importance of LISTENING to the others, they will continue to please only themselves and never go very far as musicians. This learning disability of playing like they’re the only “important” person on the stage usually continues as a bad habit forever. This is why this is such an important part of the early learning process. I stress this to all my teachers all the time….”don’t forget to train students how to play with others through listening”.

Thanks again to each member of The Hillary Reynolds Band, the Student Showcase students and the DMH Families and friends who came to this event and gave me proof that my journey is true and purposeful! A SPECIAL THANK YOU to Heidi Adomshick for all her hard work of preparation and insuring that the Student Showcase as well as the entire evening was a success!!!
“I have a dream….but I can’t do it alone”!

Yes….There is a place where Music Education with Inspiration Works…..and it’s name is David’s Music House!